October 15, 2013

December 26, 2013

February 27, 2014

A Democrat is set to take over as Marion County prosecutor after 16 years of GOP dominance, following an election in which the outgoing Republican prosecutor factored large even though he was not on the ballot.

Two-term Marion County Prosecutor Carl Brizzi drew attention for a series of questionable business deals with a local defense attorney and for his friendship and business ties to financier Tim Durham, who is under federal criminal investigation.

The FBI also was looking into deals involving Brizzi—including a state lease deal in Elkhart and an Indianapolis drug case—following an IBJ investigation that raised questions about his business dealings while in office and whether those deals influenced his actions as prosecutor.

Local defense attorney Paul Page in 2008 arranged for Brizzi to own 50 percent of an office building in Elkhart leased by the Department of Child Services without Brizzi’s putting up cash or credit. A year later, Brizzi offered a lenient plea deal and returned $10,000 in seized cash to accused drug dealer Joseph Mobareki, a Page client.

Law enforcement officials saw Brizzi’s intervention in the Mobareki case as troubling considering his no-cost real estate deal with Page in Elkhart.

During the election, both the victorious Democrat Terry Curry and Republican challenger Mark Massa criticized Brizzi’s behavior in office.

Curry put it this way: “There’s no doubt whatsoever that the No. 1 challenge for the next prosecutor is … to restore trust and confidence in the office.”

Massa, a former general counsel for Gov. Mitch Daniels and deputy prosecutor in Marion County, began his campaign by calling on Brizzi to resign. In April, Massa announced a series of ethics reforms he hoped to enact if elected, and said the man he hoped to replace should resign before his second four-year term ended Dec. 31.

Massa cited a series of “disturbing published reports” detailing Brizzi’s business dealings while in office, including the investment with Page.

“I believe the prosecuting attorney should inspire public confidence, not public cynicism,” Massa said. “I will work simply for the paycheck from the people every two weeks, and I’ll work hard to earn it.”

Brizzi resisted calls from former supporters to resign, and had a personal interest in sticking around: By finishing his second term, he will be eligible for a public pension.

With eight years of service, he would be entitled to earn 24 percent of his highest annual salary of $125,000, or about $30,000 per year once he reaches retirement age, by IBJ’s calculation.•

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Managing Editor

Schouten is an Indianapolis native and Indiana University graduate who joined IBJ in 2006 after stints at the Sarasota Herald-Tribune and the Arizona Republic. He covered the real estate beat for most of those years, and launched the Property Lines blog, before taking over as managing editor in March 2013.

Schouten has been honored for investigative and enterprise reporting by the Society of American Business Editors and Writers, the Alliance of Area Business Publications and the Society of Professional Journalists in Indianapolis. During his tenure as moderator of Property Lines, the blog was recognized twice as the best among business journals by the AAPB.

Schouten serves as secretary of the board of governors of the Society of American Business Editors and Writers, and is set to serve as the organization's president in 2016. He is treasurer of the Indianapolis Press Club Foundation, and a board member of the Indianapolis Public Schools Education Foundation.

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